Asda

LONDON: Empowering the consumer has become the fashionable strategy of 2009. Recently, Vodafone unveiled its fresh 'Power to you' brand positioning and Yahoo! launched an ad campaign with the tagline 'It's you'. Now, it seems that Asda, too, is following the trend. Asda's president and chief executive, Andy Bond, believes that businesses are being forced to adapt to a new era of 'democratic consumerism' which has emerged from the 'digital explosion and the trust vacuum'.

LONDON: British annual retail sales growth slowed in July, despite a big rise in clothing purchases, and is expected to weaken further next month, a survey by the Confederation of British Industry showed on Wednesday. The CBI distributive trades survey's retail sales balance fell for a second successive month after hitting a five-month high in May, dropping to +21 in July from +29 in June, bucking economists' forecasts for a modest rise to +30. The outlook for sales in...

LONDON: Asda, the British arm of US retailer Wal-Mart , on Tuesday lost its status as Britain's No. 2 supermarket group to rival Sainsbury's as industry data confirmed it as the sector laggard. Asda's sales fell 2.7 per cent over the 12 weeks to July 19, reducing its market share to 16.4 per cent from 17.0 per cent in the same period last year, researcher Kantar Worldpanel said. That meant Sainsbury's overtook Asda with a market share of 16.5 per cent, even...

NEW DELHI: Two Indian organisations -- Army and Railways -- are among the world's biggest employers, together employing a whopping 2.7 million people, said a report. Though it is often said that Indian Railways is the largest employer in the world, but it seems it is not. The organisation is ranked at the eighth place in the list of world's biggest employers. Immediately after Indian Railways in the 8th rank with 1.4 million staff is the Indian Armed Forces with 1.3...

LONDON: All of Britain's so-called "big four" supermarkets saw sales fall over the last 12 weeks in an overall market that grew marginally, with discounters continuing to take share from their bigger rivals, industry data showed on Tuesday. Kantar Worldpanel said Asda, the British arm of US retailer Wal-Mart , suffered the biggest sales fall over the 12 weeks to July 19 with a decline of 2.7 per cent. That meant Sainsbury's regained its No. 2 status...

LONDON: Asda, the British arm of US retailer Wal-Mart , on Tuesday lost its status as Britain's No. 2 supermarket group to rival Sainsbury's as industry data confirmed it as the sector laggard. Asda's sales fell 2.7 per cent over the 12 weeks to July 19, reducing its market share to 16.4 per cent from 17.0 per cent in the same period last year, researcher Kantar Worldpanel said. That meant Sainsbury's overtook Asda with a market share of 16.5 per cent,...

LONDON: Ready to eat Indian meals are a prominent offering in British stores, and now for the first time a leading supermarket chain is introducing a range of traditional Indian clothing in UK. Asda, one of the largest supermarket chain, is introducing today a new collection of Indian clothes in 21 of its stores to coincide with celebrations to mark the end of Ramadan. Indian clothes like salwar kameez, kurta-pyjama, jodhpuri, dupatta, churidar, dhoti, etc - will feature...

LONDON: British retail giant Tesco, which last week announced a franchise and hyper-market association with Tata group in India, has been asked to withdraw two of its advertisements after the regulator ruled they "mislead" consumers. The Advertising Standards Authority yesterday ruled that the company has shown an "unfair" comparison in the advertisements to claim that a selection of goods sold at its stores are cheaper than those of rival retailers Asda and Wm Morrison.

Setting: 2011, UK. In a bid to tackle its rival Asda, Tesco launches a tricky promotional scheme . What Happened: Since 2005, Tesco and its smaller rival Asda face off on one bone of contention: who offers the cheapest prices? In fact, August 2005, Tesco challenged Asda advertising itself as the cheapest supermarket in Britain. The Advertising Standards Agency upheld Tesco's complaint and Asda was forced to change its punch line. Yet, both retail chains continued...

LONDON: Indian attires salwar-kameez, legenga-choli and dupattas have become the reason for a business battle between NRI shop-owners and supermarkets in Britain, with a leading chain launching a sale of traditional Asian clothes. The business battle broke out when retail major Asda launched its 'Asian Range' in 21 stores across the country this week, at prices considerably lower than the ones available at smaller shops owned by people of Indian-origin. ...

LONDON: Britain's competition regulator has found that some customers are being misled by the country's embattled supermarkets and ordered the retailers to provide greater clarity on their promotional offers. The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) was responding to a "super-complaint" from a consumer watchdog that said it had identified "misleading and confusing" pricing tactics over seven years in areas such as multi-buy offers at the likes of Tesco ...

LONDON: Britain's competition regulator has found that some customers are being misled by the country's embattled supermarkets and ordered the retailers to provide greater clarity on their promotional offers. The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) was responding to a "super-complaint" from a consumer watchdog that said it had identified "misleading and confusing" pricing tactics over seven years in areas such as multi-buy offers at the likes of Tesco ...

NEW DELHI: Two Indian organisations -- Army and Railways -- are among the world's biggest employers, together employing a whopping 2.7 million people, said a report. Though it is often said that Indian Railways is the largest employer in the world, but it seems it is not. The organisation is ranked at the eighth place in the list of world's biggest employers. Immediately after Indian Railways in the 8th rank with 1.4 million staff is the Indian Armed Forces with 1.3...

LONDON: Britain's fourth-biggest grocer Wm Morrison is expected to report its lowest annual profit in five years on Thursday and could also detail plans to sell about 10 per cent of its freehold property and return surplus cash to shareholders. A second straight annual profit fall from Morrisons, the shares of which have fallen 19 per cent over the past six months, will shine an unflattering spotlight on its late entry into online shopping and local convenience...

Setting: 2011, UK. In a bid to tackle its rival Asda, Tesco launches a tricky promotional scheme . What Happened: Since 2005, Tesco and its smaller rival Asda face off on one bone of contention: who offers the cheapest prices? In fact, August 2005, Tesco challenged Asda advertising itself as the cheapest supermarket in Britain. The Advertising Standards Agency upheld Tesco's complaint and Asda was forced to change its punch line. Yet, both retail chains continued...

NEW YORK: Wal-Mart Stores Inc. reported a 9.3 percent increase in third-quarter net income as the world's largest retailer benefited from cost controls and a robust international business. The company also raised its full-year profit outlook. The improvements came despite weakness at its U.S. business. Total revenue at U.S. Walmart stores fell as fewer customers visited and spent less when they did. Revenue at stores open at least a year also fell, for the sixth...

LONDON: All of Britain's so-called "big four" supermarkets saw sales fall over the last 12 weeks in an overall market that grew marginally, with discounters continuing to take share from their bigger rivals, industry data showed on Tuesday. Kantar Worldpanel said Asda, the British arm of US retailer Wal-Mart , suffered the biggest sales fall over the 12 weeks to July 19 with a decline of 2.7 per cent. That meant Sainsbury's regained its No. 2 status...

LONDON: High street giants Tesco, Primark and Asda are under fire for their use of Bangladeshi factories that pay workers just 5p an hour to make their cheap clothes. According to a report from charity War on Want, workers in Bangladesh are regularly working 80 hours a week for just 5p an hour, in what it describes as "potential death trap factories", to produce cheap clothes for British consumers. In its 'Fashion Victims' report, the charity said that more than 5,000,...

JOHANNESBURG: Wal-Mart Stores, the world's largest retailer, plans to buy Massmart Holdings in a transaction worth about $4.6 billion, entering Africa in its biggest deal in more than a decade. Wal-Mart's proposed offer of 148 rand ($21.10) a share would value South Africa's second-largest listed retailer at about 32 billion rand including share options, Massmart chief executive officer Grant Pattison said on Monday. The offer price is 9.8% higher than Massmart's last closing price and 66%...

The world's biggest company has no factories and doesn't manufacture a thing. US-headquartered Wal-Mart Inc is the largest global chain of shops selling the basic stuff of everyday life. More than 200 million customers visit its 8,000 stores every week. At the nano end of the scale, your favourite kirana shop sells goods identical to 10 near by. Yet, you prefer it. Obviously, Wal-Mart and the kirana shop have us hooked. Their secret: they understand how we shop. And given the number of...